[R] Struggle of Birth

NOTE: This topic is rated. This means that it most probably will contain either gore/violence, very explicit language, suggestive adult themes, or all of them.

The patterned ground of Aspheri held itself, for once, nearly immobile. The darkness, slashed with crimson was calm and serene. Low wind howled through the canyons of the world, as the twin fireballs lifted themselves in the arid sky. The warm smell of the area drifted along with the gentle breath, traveling the grounds like an ethereal bird.
The rule of the princess of Aspheri, now queen and king, spread over all of this earth, in an either terrifying state or perfectly streamlike manner. Buildings shot out of the ground like pillars and plateaus, towards the skies. They loomed over streets and roads where the people of Aspheri roamed.
In the throne room, it was quiet. The monotone silence was then abruptly ripped apart by the cracking and loud snap of dark magic having appeared in the middle of nowhere. The bolt clashed with the ground, sending lanky shards on the floor. Obscure mist lifted from the evaporating shards, as well as a recognizable figure. A purple tail lashed the steam away, before the silhouette stepped out from the darkness, in a what-seemed-to-be very nervous way. Red eyes glanced around, teeth clenched.
"Ilrune? Shadow!" Bart yelled, searching for them. Freaking damn it! he cursed in his mind.

In the throne room, Wraith barked three times, starting to scratch at the marble floor. Shadow looked down at the wolf, and recognised the signs. She glanced at the ambassador in front of her, speaking politely in demonic before touching Ilrune's arm, glancing at him. The new Prince of Darkness nodded once. The two lovers walked out of the throne room with dignity before running along the corridors. They found the demonic Kraferr in a small side passage.
"Bart!" Shadow said, smiling behind her mask. Ilrune merely nodded, his face betraying his reluctance at the Kraferr being present in their dimension.

"Shadow!" Bart replied quickly, not having time to try and smile or actually seem happy about her presence. He dashed up to her as quickly as possible, breathing very heavily. "I need to get to the point," Bart uttered, "big problem, big stuff, happening right now."
Taking a few more deep breaths and flattening a hand on his heart, he doubled over and put his hands on his knees. He tried to stay up, but he had been trying to find out what Aspheri's song was since a few minutes, and he was really not sure whether or not something was going to go wrong. He looked up, still panting.
"It's Dominique," he finished, "she's... Giving birth..."

Shadow reacted immediately, snapping a few words to Ilrune in demonic. The demon nodded, vanishing. Shadow grabbed Bart's arm, teleporting to Earth.

She arrived on the roof of the flat, still in her regal robes and mask.
"Where is she?" The demoness asked urgently. She knew that demonic births could be very tricky, and she was worried about Dominique since she didn't know how her Kraferric side was going to react to the birthing.

Bart grabbed Shadow's hand, pulling her to the door. Instead of opening it like a civilized man -or teen, in this situation- would do, he lifted one leg and blew the door down, dashing inside and pulling Shadow with him. he snapped his fingers, letting the magic grab the door and fit it back into place.
He slammed into the flat's door, bursting it open as well, and sprinting inside. He closed it behind him, and went up to their room, and opened the door. Dominique was there, breathing shakily and heavily, eyes wide. Bart stepped over to her, laying one hand on her back and the other to support her.
"Dominique," Bart spoke, trying to seem serene, "calm down, Shadow's here... She'll be helping you, all right?"
"Don't ever leave me like that again, you damn idiot," Dominique growled.
"I had to get someone to help," Bart answered, pulling Dominique back to her feet and helping her stand up. "Just go to the bed and-"
"You're not leaving me again, are you?" Dominique asked, turning back to Bart. Bart gulped,glancing at Shadow and shaking his head.
"No, no, don't worry," he replied calmly, "I'll be right next to you." Bart helped Dominique lay down on the bed and she moaned painfully. Bart turned to Shadow, eyes wide, body tense.

Shadow sprinted alongside Bart, lifting her floorlength skirt with one hand. Ilrune appeared next to Shadow as they burst into the flat, carrying a rucksack. She strode over to Dominique's side, smiling a little.
"Hey there Dominique," She said calmly before looking pointedly at Ilrune. The demon nodded once and dragged Bart out of the room, closing the door.

Dominique's eyes widened as Bart was forcefully pulled out of the room, and she looked at Shadow, scared. Her hands clasped against the sides of the bed as she gasped for air, the pain only swelling inside her body as the seconds passed.
Bart didn't have time to know what had just happened before he noticed, a few seconds later, that he was out of the room. He lifted his head to glance at Ilrune, and he sighed heavily.
"I can't be with her, is that it?" Bart muttered, "This is going to be difficult..."

Shadow knelt next to the bed, opening the bag Ilrune had given her. She had prepared it a couple of weeks before, anticipating Dominique's birth-giving date. She pulled out a vial, using a needle to draw out a dose of the liquid and injecting it into Dominique's shoulder.
"Ok, I've just given you a painkiller. I need you to relax, ok? Just relax your muscles for now."

Ilrune pulled a chair out from under the table, pushing it towards Bart before sitting down himself.
"It is better for us to keep out of the way." He said, folding his arms.

Bart grabbed the chair and tiredly sat on it, oozing into it. He sighed heavily again. His body betrayed the fact that he was completely tired-out and nervous. His hair was in more of a mess than it normally was, and his fingers twitches involuntarily. He tried to calm down. Shadow was there, and she was here to help. She could get Dominique out of it in the best way possible.
At least, that's what he hoped.

Dominique, on the other hand, tried to relax as well as she could. The painkiller seemed to have a slight effect, and it did make her a little numb. She took deep steady breaths as she tried to relax her muscles, closing her eyes.

Ilrune sat quietly, his eyes closed. He was confident in Shadow's abilities. At least, he hoped so. It wasn't going to be that long before he was a father himself.

"That's it Dominique, just relax." Shadow said soothingly. "I'm going to give you another injection to hurry along the process a little," She explained, preparing another needle and injecting it into Dominique's arm.

Bart looked down at the floor, letting his curled hair fall over his eyes, which turned back to normal after a few seconds. The purple fur disappeared from his skin, as well as his tail. The ribs which stuck out of his back slipped back into his body, a loud crack resonating just after. Once Bart had become completely normal - or enough to be qualified as normal - he just stared down at the ground, clasping his hands together.

Dominique whimpered a quite sound of pain as Shadow injected another liquid into Dominique's body. She tensed, before relaxing again and letting her breaths come out easier, despite their depth.

Shadow took a deep breath.
"Ok, now comes the painful bit, ok?" She said, trying to reassure the Kraferrin, "Just bear with me, it'll be over soon enough." The demoness held Dominique's hand briefly.

Ilrune watched the Kraferr, smirking slightly.
"Worried, are you?"

Dominique clenched her teeth, trying to ease herself on the bed. Her fingers clenched the blankets of the bed. She breathed heavily, closing her eyes tightly, and trying to relax. "Hurts..." she whimpered, "Ooow... Ah! Shit!"

Bart lifted an eyebrow at the yell coming from the room, before turning to Ilrune and shivering. He nodded slowly, keeping his hands tight together. "...Yeah," he replied.

"Shush," Shadow said, trying to be comforting. "Ok, just push, that's all you need to do." She prepared another painkiller, injecting it into the Kraferrin's bloodstream. She took a deep breath, letting it out slowly to calm herself down. Her empathy was going haywire, but she ignored it as she had learnt to do.

Ilrune chuckled quietly to himself, discreetly enjoying the Kraferr's discomfort. He stretched his arms above his head, completely relaxed.

Dominique's eyes opened as the pain coursed throughout her body. She felt as if she were on fie, her heart slamming abnormally fast under her ribs. Her hands gripped the sheets and pulled them violently as she yelled again out of pain. "Nnngh... Gah!" she gasped, "It burns! Haa- shit!"

Bart lowered his head further as he heard the yells from the room. He tried breathing in three times as Dominique had said he should whenever he was feeling tense.

Shadow remained calm and serene, taking the Kraferrin's hand.
"It's ok, Dominique, focus," She said as soothingly as she could. "Do you want Bart to be here with you?" She was trying hard to think of ways to help the Kraferrin, but there were no other solutions apart from a cesarean, and it was too late for that.

Through two gasps for air, Dominique squeezed Shadow's hand and nodded quickly. "It would- nnnh... Yes... Ah... Aaaah!" Dominique yelled as the pain jolted inside her body again. Sweat made her face clammy and red. Her hand tensed on Shadow's.

Bart clenched his hands together, frowning. His hair fell over his face, hiding his expression of fear. His eyes were wide, and staring at nothing. 'What if?' questions sprinted in his mind, soon becoming worse and worse with his thoughts.

Shadow immediately got to her feet walking over to the door and opening it.
"Bart, Dominique wants you," She said before walking back to the soon-to-be mother's side.
"It's ok, Dominique, you're almost there, come on," She urged the Kraferrin, gently dabbing a cloth soaked in cold water over Dominique's brow.

Bart immediately stood up, not really caring that the chair fell two or three meters behind him. He dashed over to the room, quickly opening the door and closing it behind him. He paced over to Dominique, crouching near her.
"Shhh," he spoke, "It's okay. I'm here now." Dominique snatched Bart's hand, squeezing it in her grasp. "It's going to be okay," Bart continued speaking, trying to comfort Dominique.
"Does it seem like it's okay?!" Dominique shouted.
"It's fine," Bart replied, "just relax... Relax."
"That's what I'm trying to do since the whole beginning!" Dominique retorted.
"Okay then," Bart answered, "stop speaking. Just concentrate. Push."

Shadow quickly moved along the bed, helping to pull the first child from Dominique's womb. The demoness moved quickly, tying a knot in the umbilical cord and cutting it. The part still attached to the child crumbled into ash, which she knew to be normal with demonic children. She wrapped the baby in a blanket, passing it to Bart before turning her attentions to Dominique again.

Bart held the infant in his hands, wrapped up in the blanket. He gazed at it as it squeaked and closed its eyes tightly, keeping its hands into small fists. Dominique breathed heavily, gulping and squeezing Bart's hand, as she felt pain lift in her body once more. Bart stood silent, trying to be of as much help as possible by just staying with her.

"Come on Dominique," Shadow encouraged, "You're almost there," The demoness was starting to reflect on how much easier it was when Merlas gave birth. She just got on with it and barely needed Shadow there at all. Ilrune stood in the doorway, watching the trio, his arms folded.

Dominique breathed heavily and shakily, before clenching her teeth and pushing as good as she could. The pain swelled up in her body, although she kept herself from yelling. Bart's hand tightened on Dominique's, trying to comfort her. Her nails dug into Bart's skin, but he did not flinch, already used to that.
"C'mon, Dominique, just a little more..." Bart murmured.
Dominique pushed harder, trying to keep herself from screaming.

Shadow gently pulled the second child as soon as she could get a hold without harming the child. It was a technique she had learnt to help the mother by relieving some of the pressure. A few minutes passed before the child was finally free. Shadow cut the umbilical cord, wrapping the baby in a blanket before handing it to Dominique.
"Comgratulations," She said, smiling at the pair.

Dominique was still breathing heavily, but more calmly than before. She opened her eyes, stretching out both arms in order to hold her child in her arms. She put the baby next to her, and smiled, chuckling softly. She caressed the being's cheek, making it flinch very slightly. She smiled, brushed her hand on the baby's skin.
"A boy and a girl," Bart murmured, "somehow, just like we planned."
"Then it will be Phoebe for the girl," Dominique whispered.
"And Thade for the boy," Bart answered, opening the blanket ever so gently. He turned his eyes up to Shadow, and smiled widely.